Sotheby’s Doing Their Part To Support the Real Estate Industry

Last week Christy and I received an email from Kathy Korte, President and CEO, of Sotheby’s International Realty, updating us on ways the private sector are trying to jumpstart the sluggish housing market. A Business Roundtable was formed and here are the results of that meeting.

Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations and specifically, the Business Roundtable’s Housing Working Group – which is chaired by Realogy CEO Richard A. Smith – issued a set of recommendations for the White House and Congress that are aimed at jumpstarting the housing market in order to stimulate a broader economic recovery.

The Business Roundtable’s recommendations are as follows:
· Keep mortgage interest rates at historically low levels (below 5 percent) for at least one year;
· Expand the current First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit incentive from the lesser of 10 percent of the purchase price of the home or $8,000 to a higher limit of either 10 percent or $15,000 for all homebuyers, remove the income restrictions and include all primary residence purchases for one full year;
· Conduct a thorough review of current foreclosure mitigation and loan-modification programs in light of rising loan-modification re-default rates;
· Make permanent the current temporary conforming loan limits; and
· Continue to review and strengthen government efforts already underway to review and refine mortgage lending practices.

“We believe targeted, demand-side solutions – such as the ones Business Roundtable is recommending today – will provide a critical next step for a housing recovery that will help create jobs and boost the economy as a whole,” said Smith in the Business Roundtable’s press release.

To obtain a copy of the Business Roundtable press release and its Housing Working Group’s detailed recommendations, click here. To read an article that appeared in today’s online edition of The Wall Street Journal containing an interview with Richard Smith about the Business Roundtable’s recommendations and why they are crucial to jumpstarting the housing market, click here

NRT and The Jackson Hole Experts, Christy and Garth Gillespie, applauds the Business Roundtable for its proactive efforts to reinvigorate the U.S. housing market, and we are proud of the leadership role our parent company, Realogy, has taken in this regard.

For more information on the current housing market here in Jackson Hole please feel free to call at 877-739-8056 or visit us at our website.